Whether you’re a coffee connoisseur or completely unfussy about the manner in which you get your caffeine fix, there’s no denying that the smell of freshly-brewed coffee in the morning is an invigorating one. The chemistry behind this aroma, though, is far from simple; a complex collection of chemical compounds are responsible, and this graphic takes a look at a selection of these.
The recent measles outbreak in the US has once again provoked discussion over vaccinations, and why some parents choose not to vaccinate their children despite the benefits of doing so. Whilst not the only factor, part of the blame lies with misinformation about the chemical composition of vaccines and the effects these compounds can have. This graphic summarises some of the key components in vaccines, as well as clarifying their purpose and safety in the concentrations present.
You might have noted that yesterday was ‘Blue Monday’ – lauded as the most depressing day of the year. You might also be aware that Blue Monday was actually the construct of a Sky Travel marketing campaign several years ago, and is complete pseudoscience. Still, it seemed like as good an excuse as any to throw together this graphic, which looks at some of the different classes of antidepressants, and to discuss a little of how they work.
Vitamins are an important part of our diet, but you probably haven’t given a great deal of thought to their chemical structures. This graphic shows chemical structures for all 13 vitamins; though there can be some variability in these structures in sources of the vitamins, these are generally representative. They perform a range of roles in the body; below is a brief discussion, and a look at the evidence for taking vitamin supplements.
The aroma of pine trees is one that’s evocative of Christmas; one of the responsible molecules, alpha-pinene, has already been featured on the Chemistry Advent Calendar, but here we take a more detailed look at the chemical constituents of the aroma.
In the Northern Hemisphere at least, the idealised vision of Christmas involves snow. Whilst no one snowflake is exactly the same as another, at least on a molecular level, scientists have none-the-less devised a system of classification for the many types of crystals that snow can form. This graphic shows the shapes and names of some of the groups of this classification.